


Counting

by KittyGems



Category: A Hat in Time (Video Game)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Small mention of blood, Sort Of, and broken limbs, it also talks about his escape, so don't hurt me haha, talks about a handful of days of prince's time in the cellar, this is super dark
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 12:43:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,724
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13741137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KittyGems/pseuds/KittyGems
Summary: She loves me, right?Then why does she have me locked away.Why does she have chains wrapped around me?...What did I do wrong...?





	Counting

**Author's Note:**

> This is a very dark and angsty oneshot haha,,
> 
> If you still can't read this however don't force yourself to!

It’s been maybe six hours. I’m cramped, dazed, but I feel ok otherwise. Maybe a little sleepy, a little parched.

This was just a cruel joke, of course it was! Maybe that was just a lightshow, o-or maybe shadows placed in the wrong places.

Vanessa, my dear sweet Nessie, she’d never do this. Maybe she was just a little too upset, but I’m sure once we talked things out, she’d let me free. Ah, yes, that would be the solution.

I miss my bed… I miss my books, my giant chair, I miss it all.

I wiggled a bit, but the chain around my neck made me wince.

Everything was going to be ok, I reassure myself, it’ll--

The door, the light of a candle.

A big grin grew on my face. A painful, but hopeful grin.

“V-Vanessa! You’re here to let me out, right?” I called out into the darkness. Black smoke pooled from where she came from, and my blood turned cold.

This was not Ness. A red-eyed, black shadow creature instead took form. A big red grin grew on her face as she gripped my face, her claws digging into my cheeks. I resisted the urge to yelp.

“Oh, my darling. My darling, _darling_ prince. Everything will be ok.”

Her voice. It was distorted, not her voice. It couldn’t be.

“Vanessa… Please, let me go,” I pleaded, but all she did was shove water down my throat. I coughed, managing to swallow most of it.

“Oh, my dear, you won’t be leaving for a long while. But don’t worry, it’ll be all over soon!”

My eyes widened.

“Ness-”

“Have a good sleep, my dear~!”

Sleep… What was in that water?

Sleepy.

Sleepy.

Sl...eepy.

* * *

**Day 5**

How many days… I could barely recognize most of myself. My begging, my pleading to be let go fell on deaf ears. She began to give me less and less. Soon my voice was so dry all I could do was make small sounds. So, I have begun to count.

I believe it’s been five days. This cruel joke was going on long enough. I want to go home. I want my queen. I want my parents. I want my people.

I want my law studies. I want my home. I want my bed. I want to forget everything.

Forget…

How wonderful that would be.

To forget and to forgive.

I couldn’t produce tears anymore. I was too dehydrated to.

“Oh, my dear. You look so sad.”

That monster. How dare she claim Vanessa’s crown and voice. How dare she claim _me_ , like I was a piece of land.

“Here, I finally made cookies! And here’s some water!”

I wiggled, desperate. Cookies wouldn’t give me much nutrients, but the water…

“But, you know what to do.”

“I,” my voice sounded so broken. It made me internally wince. “Love…”

“Love?” she coaxed, like trying to get a servant to bring her a pastry. I almost wanted to snap right then and there at her. But I couldn’t. I was too desperate.

“You.”

A twisted, evil smile grew on her face. I shuddered as she stepped closer, caressing my face. She was so cold, too cold.

I hated it.

She once again fed and let me drink, and once I finished, she pulled over a barrel and produced a book.

“A bedtime story for my darling, hm?”

Her voice was so sickly sweet it made my stomach turn.

“It’s one of your favorite stories, from Greek mythology. The story of Tithonus.”

That one. A depressing, lonely tale of the titan Eos and her love for a man named Tithonus. She asked for immortality for him, but that granted him only immortality, not eternal youth. Thus, he was only reduced to his voice.

I squirmed as the monster read.

I didn’t like this tale at all anymore.

* * *

**Day 20**

I felt cracks appearing on my skin.

I slept more.

I ate less.

I just want this nightmare to end.

Why can’t things go back to normal.

My hands.

My body.

It was just not normal anymore.

I was becoming a shadow monster.

Just like her.

I can’t feel my arms anymore. They broke a long time ago.

Ha, lucky me my neck hasn’t snapped yet, huh?

...I want home.

I want home.

I want home.

I want to go home.

* * *

**Day 28**

“Hello, love!”

My eyes narrowed. The monster is back.

“I bought food, but you must say the magic words!”

I refuse. The claim of love has become bitter across my tongue. My mouth is on fire. Drier than the desert.

“...No,” I manage to cough out.

“No?” her voice was slithering, like a python. It made my blood boil.

“No!” I screamed. She looked horrified before her face melted to anger.

“I give you food, I give you safety, and yet you _now_ refuse to say ‘I love you’? My dear, my love, how pathetic of you.”

This monster. She claims of my love, yet gives me none.

“You are not… the person… I love…” I mumble, coughing some more. Blood drips down from my nose.

The plate and cup clatter to the floor, breaking into a million tiny pieces. The cookies become soggy, the water melting into the spilled wine. The monster often came down here to drink from the tap, but that also meant a flood of the cellar. She became messy when drunk.

“Die, you inconsiderate pain! I give you gifts and yet you reject the one thing I ask of you!”

I have no energy to retort, to wince, to make any sign of living.

I’m numb as the shadows creep closer from her frame.

I’m numb as she screams more and more at me, ordering I give her love.

I’m numb as the shadows tangle my frame.

I’m numb.

I’m numb.

Pathetic.

* * *

**Day 30**

I can feel it. My stomach is growing emptier. Everything is numb. I hang limply, my eyes lidded. The monster hasn’t visited in two days. She must’ve still been throwing her tantrum. I heard more clattering on the floor above, more desperate crying.

The air was becoming colder. At the darkest of nights, it was most likely below freezing.

But I couldn’t care any less. I just… I wanted relief. I wanted…

I want salvation.

My eyes close, a shuddering breath escaping me. I’m so weak. I’m pathetic, aren’t I?

My heart beats become weaker and weaker.

I’m so tired.

I just want to sleep.

I want…

Sleep…

Sleep…

Sleep…

My head goes limp as darkness overwhelms my senses. Something’s clawing inside.

It wants to come out. It won’t be silenced anymore.

I let it.

* * *

**Day 31**

Midnight.

Twelve chimes.

I count silently in my head.

One.

Two.

I feel something taking over as I stayed limp, my thoughts rushing yet becoming silent.

Three.

Four.

Something cold yet hot takes over. I shout.

Five.

Six.

The chains. They’re becoming.

Seven.

Eight.

Weightless.

Nine.

I pull on my chains that bind me.

Ten.

I feel weightlessness. I feel nothing yet everything.

Eleven.

I pull harder.

Twelve.

It’s midnight.

My eyes snap open as I fall against the cellar floor. The chains rattle behind me, water dripping. I felt strong. I felt…

Powerful. Too powerful. The chains remaining were on my wrists.

I shout again, pounding at the floor with my fists. A door flies open, and I inhale.

“Dear~ What’s with all the noise?”

The monster.

I stand, no longer restrained. I scream. I scream for my final salvation. Her footsteps become quick as she rushes downstairs. But I’m already outside.

The monster bashes the front doors open, and she screams. The cry pierces the air, and I inhale sharply, but don’t get unfocused.

“Get him! Get him, get him, get **him!** ”

Her voice became more distorted, a blizzard forming as I kept running. White puffs of air form.

Crunching of footsteps. I look back, two crystal-like blue statues run after me.

I trip and fall, a shout falling from my lips. The footsteps slow, and I once again feel vulnerable. But no, nono _no_ , safety was in reach. I wasn’t letting this opportunity be in vain.

“Sweetie, my prince, come home. You’ll be safer there, please,” The monster tried reasoning, and I felt her presence come closer. There was some sort of sweet undertone to her voice, like she was talking to an injured animal.

I hate it.

I hate it.

I HATE IT.

**I HATE IT.**

Something overtook me. A chuckle fell from me. The footsteps stopped. The chuckle became a chortle, and then, a roaring laugh. A boisterous, almost insane laugh. Have I finally lost my mind?

“I’m not going back! Not to your hellhole!” I screamed, turning and swiping my hand. A multicolored blast came out of nowhere, blasting the statues and the monster away from me. I shuffle back, the snow not bothering me. It was almost like I couldn’t feel it’s cold temperatures anymore.

“Leave me alone! Let me go! Let me _go!_ ”

I got up, slipping around on the forming ice as the monster screamed, running after me again. I kept sprinting, until I felt my legs starting to fuse. Soon I was flying, almost like Peter Pan.

Flying.

I crossed the bridge, slipping onto the ground. I panted, holding my head in my hand.

The monster was still coming.

I rose my hand, and the bridge collapsed. The stone fell into the dark abyss below. I took in gulps of air, fleeing farther away as I heard her screeches echo through Subcon. The remaining chains make mocking sounds against the ground. I slam my hands against a tree, breaking them off. I looked in horror; what was I?

I’m dead.

It hits me like a cinder block. Tears build up in my eyes.

All my life opportunities. My marriage, my first child, my first grandchild, graduating law school, becoming king.

They all slipped away like sand.

I kept wandering aimlessly, finally crashing into the floor of an open tree.

I.

I escaped.

I’m free.

Tears slip down my face, and a wide smile grows on my face.

I’m free. Free from the monster.

Free from… _her_.

Vanessa.

Never again, I promise.

Never again.

Peace encases me, and for the first time in such a long time.

I fall asleep peacefully.


End file.
